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ed as essentials for the preservation of the fish. When¬
ever the fish are landed, the limber boards should be re¬
moved, and the whole interior of the boat should be pro¬
perly washed and scrubbed. This should be done daily
during the fishing season, and thus the glut is much more
easily removed, and the boat is rendered clean, and freed
from all taint or smell, before proceeding to sea on each
successive voyage. Each boat should be provided with
a comfortable place forward, for the crew retiring occa¬
sionally to sleep or to shelter in, covered with a half
deck, and every man should have a comfortable oil-skin
canvass coat and trowsers and boots; and if each were to
be provided with the patent Edinburgh Safety Cape, in¬
vented by Mr. Simpson, or such safety packets as are
now furnished to the Coast Guard, many lives would be
saved which would otherwise be lost. As every large
boat may have a fire on board, coffee in any quantity
could be heated for the crew, and this would be found
on trial to be a much more comfortable and nourishing
drink for them, and much more enduring in its effects
than any spirituous liquor, and free from all after bad
consequences.
Where large fleets of fishing boats are assembled, it is
a common practice for the whole fleet to follow the course
pursued by the first boat that puts to sea, and to run for
the same fishing-ground. This may be a wise mode of
procedure where the certainty of finding a body of fish
in that particular quarter may have been already ascer¬
tained, but when this happens not to have been the case,
it would be much more advisable for the boats to go in
separate courses, so as to increase the chance of some of
them falling in with the body of fish ; and when that has
been discovered, the other boats of the fleet might after¬
wards join them, and thus all might fish successfully;
whereas by the present practice, if the fish are not encoun-

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